A refrigerator is an appliance for use in storing food at a low temperature and may be configured to store food (or other items) in a frozen state or a refrigerated state depending on types of food to be stored. The inside of the refrigerator is cooled by circulating cold air that can be continuously generated through a heat exchange process by using a refrigerant. During operation, the refrigerant goes through repetitive cycles of compression, condensation, expansion and evaporation in a heat exchanger. The cold air supplied in the refrigerator is uniformly distributed by convection. Accordingly, the items placed in the refrigerator can be stored at a desired low temperature.
The heat exchanger is installed in one side of the refrigerator and is isolated from the storage spaces such as the refrigeration room (or the refrigeration compartment) and the freezer for storing food. For example, compression and condensation processes may be performed by a compressor and a condenser disposed within a machine room located at the lower side of a rear surface of the refrigerator. In an evaporation process, the refrigerant may evaporate and thereby absorb heat from ambient air. As a result, the ambient air is cooled down.
A main body of the refrigerator may have a rectangular parallel-piped shape with an open front surface. Typically, the main body encloses a refrigeration room and freezer, each with its own door. The refrigerator may include a plurality of drawers, shelves, vegetable compartments, etc., for sorting and storing different types of items.
Conventionally, top mount type refrigerators used to be popular, with a freezer located at an upper side and a refrigeration room located at a lower side. Recently, bottom freezer type refrigerators have been developed, where a freezer is located at the lower side. A bottom freezer type refrigerator provides the advantage that a user can conveniently access the refrigerator in general. However, a user often needs to lower down or bend down to access the freezer, e.g., for taking ice from it.
Some bottom freezer type refrigerators have an ice dispenser located at the refrigeration room compartment disposed at the upper side of the refrigerator. An ice-making device for making ice pieces may be disposed on the refrigeration room door or inside refrigeration room. The ice-making device may include an ice-making unit including an ice tray, and an ice storage part (ice bucket) for storing the ice pieces produced in the ice tray.
However, according to the configuration of an conventional ice-making device, cold air flows through the ice tray and then is discharged directly and quickly. Therefore, the heat exchange efficiency between the cold air and the ice tray is poor.